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Saturday, 21 March 2009

Review - Black Sabbath - Paranoid (Reissue)

The instrumental and quadraphonic mix discs with this reissue of Black Sabbath's 1970 LP 'Paranoid' are unnecessary extras - for the most conscientious collectors only. They're totally overshadowed by the re-mastered version of the original album.

Sabbath's wandering experimentalism was reigned in on this, their second album, but from the stop-start intro of 'War Pigs' there are innovations and revelations. Ozzy Osbourne sounds amazing for a start, before the drugs, TV shows and quad-bike accidents took their toll, and when he sings, "Oh Lord yeah!" on 'War Pigs' he almost sounds like a soul singer.

Then there's the down-tuned bass and wah-wah pedals used by bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler (one of the first people to try either), the robotic intro to 'Iron Man' and the hazy seeds of post-rock in 'Planet Caravan'. Or the combination of slow doom and stabs of heavy, jagged funk on 'Electric Funeral', and 'Hand Of Doom's' shifty beat that could be sampled on a old school hip-hop track with ease.

In all this there are hints that Black Sabbath as much as Led Zeppelin provided the template for all types of metal, Jane's Addiction, Tom Morello, Chris Cornell, System Of A Down, the scuzzy grooves of The Bronx and the bombast of Muse and Guns N' Roses - but no song stays still long enough to really check.

It's hard to believe that 'Paranoid' came out when The Beatles still existed, but it's obvious that from here, Black Sabbath - alongside Led Zep (with 'Led Zeppelin II', 'III' and 'IV') - couldn't fail to propel rock into new, louder places.